Depot Street Freight Hopper

Draft sample at Knoxville Brewers Jam 2009. Poured a hazy copper color with an average frothy off-white head that was mostly lasting and excellent lacing. Moderate tart citrus and malt aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Another good brew.

Caramel orange, off white foam. Aroma is spicy, pine, peppery hops. Taste is spicy, sweet caramel malt, with a good bitter finish.

On tap at the Kingsport Grocery. Earthy aroma, with hints of citrus. Not my favorite IPA’s, but the best of the Depot Street beers I’ve tried.

The aroma is yeasty and buttery in addition to being malty and hoppy. The hops are if the citrus variety. The appearance is golden with an average head. The flavor is like the aroma. The palate is smooth. Overall a nice but not fantastic IPA.

(Brewgrass08) Hazy amber body with off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, grapefruit/earthy, some bread/honey. Taste is medium sweet, pine/grapefruit/straw, some biscuit. Medium body, light resin.

Orange, white head. Earthy aroma, kinda dirty and woodsy, too. Flavor is also rather earthy at first, but balances out with some nice piney hops. Very quaffable on ahot day. Sampled at Brewgrass 2008.

On tap at Brewgrass. Pours cloudy yellow with a good head. This smells quite herby and estery, though not as potent as I’d like an IPA. Hints of pine, wood, pineapple, pot, are in the nose. The sweetness in the flavor is interesting. It almost has near-Belgian hints which compliment the very dry finish. This is a clean IPA and leans heavily towards herbs and wood rather than citrus. Adequate pine and sess can be found in the flavor which creates a dry, stinging palate. I liked this one, it blew me away by Depot Street standards. It’s a little different for an American brewed IPA and quite good.